Global powers like the United States and China have spared little effort in attempting to shape the digital age in their image. At the same time, other powers like Japan and France, and emerging ones like India aim to play a part in building the global digital ecosystem. These latter three share similar values: democracy, freedom of speech, open access to digital resources, and sovereignty. They all desire to keep the digital commons intact and not be divided into hermetically sealed political fiefdoms. However, little is being heard from these three countries by way of joint initiatives and norms building. More importantly, they have serious disagreements on issues like data localisation and international digital conventions. This report[a] explores existing frameworks for cooperation between India, Japan and France, across a range of high-technology sectors and pressing policy priorities. Attribution: Shashank Mattoo and Ratnadeep Chakraborty, “A New Partnership for the Digital 21st Century: Japan, India and France,” ORF Issue Brief No. 132, March 2021, Observer Research Foundation. Introduction An India-Japan-France partnership on digital infrastructure can transform geographies from the Indo-Pacific to Africa. The Indo-Pacific is the fastest growing region in the world in terms of internet adoption and digital connectivity. [1] Foreshadowing expected economic growth, Southeast Asia’s internet economy has tripled in size to $100 billion in the last few years and is expected to triple again by 2025. [2] Africa, for its part, has seen a substantial increase in the proportion of its population that uses the internet, from 2.1 percent in 2005 to 24.4 percent in 2018. [3] The transformative impact of a digital revolution would bring a sea change in the economic, social and political spheres. While these regions have seen growth in technological innovation, there remain challenges to the widespread adoption of digital technology. Widening income and gender inequality, high rates of poverty, and inadequate investment levels threaten the future of digital transformation in these regions. [4] The 2020 Mobile Gender Gap report found that India has a large gender gap when it comes to internet use. [5] South Asia, overall, “has the largest mobile gender divide according to GSMA, with women 28 per cent less likely to own a mobile phone and 58 per cent less likely to use mobile internet.” [6] The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) estimates that around 52 percent of the region is still offline while those parts that do have connectivity often have low penetration rates and low access rates for women (especially in South Asia). [7] By 2018, only 30 percent of Africa’s population had access to the internet. [8] These regions therefore need both hard and soft digital infrastructure. Hard infrastructure like telecommunication networks and undersea cables is complemented by soft infrastructure in the form of a well-educated, digitally literate population. [9]
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